Wrench holder

ABSTRACT

A HOLDER FOR HAND WRENCHES USABLE WITHIN A TOOL BOX OR CHEST TO POSITION THE WRENCHES PROGRESSIVELY ACCORDING TO THEIR SIZE. THE WRENCHES ARE HELD IN PLACE UPON DIVERGING SUPPORTS HAVING OPPOSED RECESSES FORMED THEREIN ENGAGEABLE WITH THE TOOL ADJACENT THE ENDS THEREOF. ONE FORM OF THE HOLDER PROVIDES FOR BOTH SLIDABLE AND ROTAIONAL MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE SUPPORTS TO ACCOMMODATE VARIOUS WRENCH SIZES.

1972 N. E. ALBERTSON 3,702,135

WRENCH HOLDER Filed March 5, 1971 INVENTOR. NATHAN E. ALBERTSON 4h il-LAGENT U ted- Saws Pa 3,702,136 WRENCH HOLDER Nathan E. Albertson, 221Greenwood, Junction City, Oreg. 97448 Filed Mar. 3, 1971, Ser. No.120,527 Int. Cl. B25h 3/04 US. Cl. 211-60 T 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A holder for hand wrenches usable within a tool box or chestto position the wrenches progressively according to their size. Thewrenches are held in place upon diverging supports having opposedrecesses formed therein engageable with the tool adjacent the endsthereof. One form of the holder provides for both slidable androtational movement between the supports to accommodate various wrenchsizes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a holderfor hand wrenches usable both for tool display prior to sale and forlater use within a tool box or chest.

It is common practice for hand wrenches to be stored in a loosehaphazard manner within a mechanics tool box or tool chest. Use of theWrenches on the job ordinarily involves a degree of searching as thewrenches are usually interspersed in the tool chest or box among otherhand tools. As most work will require the use of different sizedwrenches considerable inconvenience is incurred in the locating of aparticular wrench and checking same for the size desired.

A further objection to the loose storage of hand wrenches is that inorder to determine whether or not the tool box or chest contains acomplete set of wrenches the same must be counted as well asindividually checked for a complete range of sizes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is embodied within aholder for hand wrenches wherein the wrenches are supported in a compactmanner and arranged progressively according to wrench size. The holderis of minimum height to permit its use within tool boxes and shallowdrawers of tool chests. One form of the holder additionally provides formultiple adjustment of the holder to adapt same to a specific set ofwrench lengths.

An important object of the holder is to provide means for compactlyarranging a set of wrenches permitting both convenient wrench storageand use. The selection of the desired tool is facilitated by having eachtool in place, according to size, within a pair of aligned recesses inthe holder. Finding of the next sized tool to that being used is greatlysimplified and may even be done without visual checking of the holder.Non-productive time searching for the proper tool is reduced as is thetime spent inventorying the tools before and after a work period.

Another important object is the adaptability of one form of the holderto various makes and sizes of wrench sets.

A further important object is the provision of a tool holder whereinwrenches may be kept in the tool box or chest and taken individuallytherefrom as needed as opposed to initially removing a number ofdifferent sized wrenches for the job at hand thus increasing the risk ofwrench loss.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder which is ofuncomplicated design, having a low manufacturing cost which permits itto be used as a sales promotion item. A set of combination, open end, orbox 3,702,136 Patented Nov. 7, 1972 ICQ wrenches may be attractivelypackaged and displayed in the holder without increasing appreciably thecost of the wrench set.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one form of the wrench holder with an adjustedposition being shown in broken lines,

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the holder taken along irregularline 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a modified form of the invention, and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the holder shown in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With continuing reference tothe accompanying drawing wherein applied reference numerals indicateparts similarly identified in the following specification, the referencenumeral '10 indicates a holder made in accordance with one form of theinvention.

The holder is comprised of two shaped sheet metal members 11 and 12interconnected by fastener means 13 extending therethrough. The twomembers are preferably formed from medium gauge sheet metal havingwrench supports in the form of non-parallel upstanding convoluted edges11A, 12A extending along their outer sides. Each of the edges isrecessed or notched at intervals as at 14 and 15 to receive and supportthe intermediate grip portion of a wrench. The opposed recesses are inalignment and progressively increase in depth and width towards thedivergent ends of the holder. Such recesses are preferably formed in acutting and forming operation to contribute to economical manufacturingof the holder.

Loosely supported within pairs of opposed recesses 14, 15 are thewrenches as shown in dashed lines at W which may be of the types notedabove. A typical set of wrenches may include for example fifteen toolsrunning from five-sixteenths through an inch and a quarter size Wrench.The larger sizes are not shown. The tools are supported on their sideswith adequate spacing therebetween to permit easy grasping of the toolselected.

The fastener means 13 is part of cooperating pivot means formed on themembers 11 and 12 which provides both for varying the angularrelationship between the members as well as permitting adjustment of themembers toward and away from one another. Accordingly means are providedfor positioning the holder members to receive various sizes and makes ofwrenches and support same adjacent the jaws of the tool.

The pivot means further includes a raised central area 16 formed onmember 11 with said area being a shallow truncated cone having a flatupper surface 16A. Cooperating with the area 16 and overlying same is alike raised area 18 formed on member 12 with a flat upper surface 18A.As best viewed in FIG. 2 the areas 16-18; 16A- 18A are complementary andnest one within the other while allowing for relative rotationalmovement. Such movement is about the upright axis of the fastener means13 which is shown in the form of a bolt assembly. The upper raised area18 further has straight, inclined surfaces at 19 to permit relativesliding movement of the nested areas in addition to the rotationalmovement above mentioned. The fiat upper surface 18A is slotted at 21 toadjustably receive the shank of fastener 13 with said fiat surface beingfrictionally engaged by the head of the fastener upon tightening of sameafter desired placement of members 11 and 12.

FIGS. 4 and 5 disclose a modified form of the invention in the form of acasting wherein a pair of diverging rails 22-23 constituting wrenchsupports which are recessed, at 24-25. As. was the case with thoseearlier described, the notches increase in size and depth in thediverging direction of the rails. The wrenches are positioned in ahorizontal alignment as viewed in FIG. 5. Crossmembers at 26-27 fixedlyspace the rails 22-23.

While I have shown but two embodiments of the invention it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodiedstill otherwise without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Having thus described the invention what is desired to be secured undera Letters Patent is:

1. A holder for hand wrenches comprising in combination,

a pair of divergently disposed wrench supports, each of said supportshaving a series of recesses formed therein with the recesses formed of aprogressively increasing size and depth in the direction of divergence,of the wrench supports, said wrench supportes adapted to receive a setof wrenches with each wrench supported within an opposed pair ofrecesses adjacent the jaws of the wrench, and

means interconnecting said supports including members integral with eachof said supports disposed in overlying relationship, said membersincluding pivot meanscomprising raised nested areas to provide co-References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,830,577 11/1931 Vallone 211- TUX 3,370,696 2/1968 Groe 206-16 D 746,999 12/ 1903 Sohmitz 206-2,420,535 5/ 1947 Griflin 21169 X FOREIGN PATENTS 828,230 1/1952 Germany21160 A WILLIAM H. SCHULTZ, Primary Examiner A. FRANKEL, AssistantExaminer US. Cl. X.R.

206-16 D; 211-60 T, 60 A

